Saturday 1 February 2014 12.47 EST
First published on Saturday 1 February 2014 12.47 EST

The fun has gone out of Channel 4 Racing – and not just for the viewers. Anger and frustration were the dominant emotions from those behind the programme when confronted this week with a report that their audience was down for 73 of the 90 days on which they broadcast in 2013.

They worked hard to find other figures that put the show's performance in a more positive light. They argued over who is and is not qualified to interpret the figures. Tellingly, they did not put their hands up, accept that things have not worked well enough and promise to find a better way.

Expectations were perhaps unrealistically high when Channel 4 acquired exclusive terrestrial rights to the sport from the beginning of 2013 and promptly handed the production contract to flashy IMG. But even allowing for that, the output has been deflating in its lack of imagination about how to present racing.

New ideas still seem in short supply, which is why poor viewing figures are such a threat. There is no sign of a Plan B, so the only option is to argue with the numbers rather than respond to them.

This is what led to the Channel 4 line of defence, that 42% of Britain's viewing population watched its racing at some point last year. As one concerned racing insider remarked: "If they whistled any harder in the dark, they'd blow their teeth out."

The only number that really counts is how many people are watching. It looks very much as though the programme misplaced some 8% of its viewers last year, a knock not just to its makers but to racing itself, being a sport whose self-esteem has often seemed remarkably fragile. The departed viewers will be hard to win back and in the meantime bookmakers who have been paying handsomely for advertising slots will surely start asking why it costs just as much to reach fewer people.

"People come up to me in the street and say: 'Thommo, we're not having a laugh like we used to'." It is unmistakably the voice of Derek Thompson, one of six veteran broadcasters whose time on air was cut short when IMG took over. Thompson immediately adds that he means "nothing against the new presenters". He will not quite spell it out but he appears to believe the problem lies with the executives who make the show, a concern echoed by others well placed to form such opinions.

IMG signed Carl Hicks as their producer, taking him from the BBC, where the racing coverage had been slick, professional and a bit dull. Jamie Aitchison, Channel 4's sports editor, supported Hicks as he sought to impose those qualities on his new environment. Asked if he regretted the loss of some of the more colourful individuals in the old show, Aitchison replied: "One man's individual is another man's fool, let's be quite honest."

Channel 4 Racing of yore made its viewers feel they had wandered into their local for a leisurely pint with some familiar faces. New Channel 4 Racing, smarter, sober, more upright, is closer to a classroom vibe. Now, pay attention, kids; today, we're going to study Haydock.

There is no questioning the talent, skill or knowledge of those in front of the camera but they have not yet formed a bond with the audience. Good, live television is a difficult alchemy and it was foolhardy of IMG to believe it could ditch so many of the established team without risk of loss.

It is said of Andrew Franklin, who produced the programme for 28 years until losing the contract to IMG, that he ensured each show featured three presenters the audience liked, one they weren't mad about and one they hated. It was his formula for an engaging and memorable two hours; Hicks and Aitchison would never go near such an approach but it is not yet clear that they have hit on a better one.

Aitchison has claimed his team has a better grasp of news values, but betting news does not seem to count and has been marginalised, while the Saturday morning preview show, The Morning Line, has dropped its paper review. That had embarrassing consequences recently when jockey Sam Twiston-Davies was a guest on the day that one paper revealed he had been given the ride on Big Buck's: no one in the studio had read the piece and he was not asked about it.

John McCririck would never have let that happen. When he was due on The Morning Line, Saturday's papers would be brought to his home at 4am so that he could scan sports and main news sections for worthwhile material.

McCririck can now be found on At The Races, while another satellite channel, Racing UK, is also available for hardcore followers of the sport. In that context, it seems odd that Channel 4 would adopt such a serious tone, entering a three-way fight for the geek audience while more casual viewers are neglected. It is long past time for the station to lighten up and give everyone in racing something to smile about.